Los Angeles Dodgers cement baseball dynasty with back-to-back World Series titles
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The Dodgers became Major League Baseball’s first repeat champions since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000.
PHOTO: EPA
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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a second straight World Series and their third in six years with a 5-4, extra-innings win over the Blue Jays in Game 7 at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Nov 1, bolstering their credentials as Major League Baseball’s (MLB) dominant team of the era.
Backed by one of MLB’s largest payrolls and boasting a constellation of stars, including the incomparable Shohei Ohtani and World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the pre-season favourites absorbed year-long scrutiny and delivered again.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
“When you put on this uniform, you’re expected to win. For us to do it again under immense pressure says a lot about this group.”
With the dramatic victory, the Dodgers became MLB’s first repeat champions since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000.
“This is so hard to do and we get to use the same narrative next year because the Yankees went back-to-back-to-back,” Freeman added.
The Dodgers did not get a lot of time to celebrate before being installed as favourites to win the 2026 World Series.
They defeated the Yankees in the 2024 World Series and bookmakers favour a rematch in the 2026 Fall Classic.
Shortstop Miguel Rojas, who tied the game with a solo homer in the ninth and made several key defensive plays in one of the greatest MLB championship deciders in history, said the title capped a gruelling campaign that began with season-opening games in Japan and ended on Canadian soil.
“The Dodgers have been doing so much for baseball the last two years. People should be really proud of this organisation,” Rojas said.
“We just played for nine months. Started the year in Japan and now finished in Canada.
“We can’t wait to go back to LA, represent our fans and bring the trophy home again. Back-to-back for the first time in 25 years – how does that sound?”
Manager Dave Roberts lauded the club’s resilience in a game where they were down to their final two outs before Rojas’ ninth-inning blast tied it up. Catcher Will Smith smashed a solo shot in the 11th that proved to be the winning run.
“There were so many pressure points where that game could have flipped and we just kept fighting,” Roberts told reporters.
“We’ve done something that hasn’t been done in decades.”
Following Smith’s home run, Japanese pitcher Yamamoto – who had started the Game 6 victory on Oct 31 – then closed out the win by getting the final three outs to crown a heroic personal contribution to the series win and leave the Blue Jays heartbroken.
Yamamoto – who had thrown a complete game in a Game 2 win before helping the team level the series in Game 6 in Toronto – was duly named the World Series MVP.
“I was not sure I could pitch until I went to the bullpen tonight, but I’m glad I was able to,” said Yamamoto, who had re-emerged to join the Dodgers all-hands-on-deck effort in the ninth inning just 24 hours after throwing 96 pitches in Game 6.
“I did everything I could do, everything I was supposed to do and I’m so happy that I was able to win this with these teammates,” the 27-year-old right-hander added.
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith celebrates after hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Asked about the dynasty debate, Roberts demurred. “We’ve put together something pretty special,” he said.
“Let the pundits talk about whether it’s a dynasty or not, but I’m pretty happy with where we’re at. We persevered and we’re the last team standing.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider admitted that defeat was hard to stomach.
“It will hurt for a few days, a few weeks, when you’re that close. The positive person in me will take some time to digest it,” said Schneider, whose team had outplayed the Dodgers on their way to building a 3-2 series lead.
“I thought we had chances to sweep them. I thought that we played our game and our game is as good as anybody in baseball.
“So is it two heavyweights going back and forth, going back to the beginning of the series when people were calling it David versus Goliath? It’s not even close.”
REUTERS, AFP
